This week’s Hamster & Gretel focuses a lot on family, even ushering out the usual villain-of-the-week concept in one half of the episode to showcase the dynamic between Gretel and her Mother.
The Litigator vs. The Luchador
Carolina’s sister is coming to visit, and the kids are excited to see Tia Melissa but Carolina is stressed. To make matters worse, earlier, a supervillain we’ve already seen in the series, The Luchador, has broken out of jail and is on the loose in the city.
When Melissa arrives at the house, she is quick to give the niece and nephew the gift of cash but can’t stay for dinner, she has important lawyer-related business to take care of. Upsetting Carolina, she also notices that her sister’s voice got too high when explaining where she was going, so obviously she is lying. Dave and Carolina go undercover to investigate her true plans.
Meanwhile, the kids are watching the news and discover that The Luchador is on the loose, and are now setting out to stop him. Fred would be a great resource for help too, but she is occupied as she is a big fan of Wrestling and is staying at home to watch the big match. Coincidentally, all signs point to the big match being exactly where The Luchador is heading to reclaim his belts.
Dave and Carolina are going throughout town and notice Melissa loading up on carbs at a nearby restaurant and buying fancy pants at the fancy pants store. Something is amiss. Also, there’s a sly Perry the Platypus reference. So that’s cool too.
Pretending to be a Canadian Podcast host to gain a media badge to enter the stadium, Kevin enlists the help of Fred via phone to help out while Gretel disguises herself as the mysterious stranger who accompanies him to head inside and take on The Luchador, who has now replaced another wrestler to try and win his belts back.
As the Luchador reveals himself (and weaponizes the referee, taking him out of the game), Dave and Carolina have tracked Melissa to the stadium, and it is soon revealed that she is competing as The Litigator, who will be taking on The Luchador.
Gretel (in disguise) offers to Tag Team with her and as The Luchador nearly takes out Melissa, tags in to continue the fight. While Melissa is recovering, Carolina steps in with words of encouragement even though the truth now comes out, and gives Melissa not only a boost of confidence, but uses her nursing skills to pop her arm back into place. Now, Melissa jumps in with a chair and takes on the Luchador, and she and Gretel use their 15 seconds of switching out time to continuously attack The Luchador with various furniture items, including but not limited to (in my best wrestling voice) A SECTIONAL.
Obviously the pair win, only because Kevin disguises himself as a new ref and makes the call, and the Luchador is apprehended once again. Back at home, everyone wonders if they’ll ever encounter that “mysterious stranger” once again.
Strawberry Festival
It’s time for a bit of mother-daughter and father-son bonding, and while Dave and Kevin are going to fix some things at an elderly tenant’s apartment, Carolina and Gretel are going to head over to pick berries at the Strawberry festival that arrived in town. Except, it’s not actually berry picking. It’s a celebration of Jeff Strawberry, a stuntman who lives on the edge and has almost died 60 times. As such, the festival is filled with crazy thrill rides and demolition derbies, each providing the adrenaline rush and action that makes folks like Gretel feel alive.
On the opposite end, Kevin and Dave arrive at the neighbor’s house and are excited to get started on the repairs, feeling like manly men who are ready to use their tools. However, the sweet neighbor offers the boys some tea and treats them to an intense love story featuring her romance in France with Andre. And she never learned his last name!
At the festival, Carolina and Gretel are in a demolition derby themselves, and don’t do much as Carolina drives around the arena with caution and ease, letting the destruction happen around them. As she is looking under the car to figure out the clutch, the surviving trucks are poised to attack the pair and Gretel activates her powers and levitates themselves in the truck to safety and win the competition. The announcer points out, much to Gretel’s chagrin, that they won by doing absolutely nothing at all. The prize? A stuffed version of Jeff Strawberry himself.
Feeling down, Gretel and her mom stop for snacks when nearby, Jeff Strawberry is at a table and starts choking on a strawberry. While Gretel is trying to figure out how to save him, Carolina, being a nurse, performs the heimlich maneuver which begins a chain reaction of the fruit being launched from mouth to mouth, causing choking through a fairly large percentage of festival attendees.
After everyone is instructed to keep their mouths shut so this stops happening, the choking stops, and everyone (including Gretel) recognizes Carolina as being a true hero to all, even Jeff Strawberry who autographs the plush with his likeness.
Back at their home, we are teased that Jeff Strawberry is now a part of the family, but maybe he isn’t. Or is he? I guess he left so that could be the last we see of Jeff Strawberry for a while. Were you expecting some kind of super villain to appear in this one? I was too, but alas it didn’t occur and makes this half of the episode a strange exercise in character growth but sort of an awkward fit for the rest of the series.
This episode of Hamster & Gretel is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW app. You can also catch up with earlier episodes of the series now streaming on Disney+.